A Call to Prayer

Esau was a man who did not value eternal things. His position as the firstborn son of Isaac and Rebecca meant that he would inherit the birthright and the future blessing of his father, including the gracious promises of God. However, the Bible tells us that “for one morsel of food” (Hebrews 12:16) he sold it all. He was a man with unrestrained appetites, willing to sacrifice future eternal treasures in order to satisfy immediate temporal desires.

Each of us is capable of doing the very same thing. In fact, it happens all the time. Even among Christians, giving in to our passions is all too common—it is the easiest thing to do. What takes strength is to go against the grain. To commit to living our lives in such a way that we are governed not by our baser desire for pleasure, but by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.

In April, a coalition of Christian leaders gathered in Washington to issue an urgent appeal to young people across America to make prayer a priority. Their call for Christians to unite in prayer and fasting on the first Friday of every month is really a challenge to every believer, young and old:

Recognizing the challenges facing America's youth, especially the devastation that sexual immorality and moral relativism have had and continue to have on this generation, and knowing that those who approach God must do so with clean hands and a pure heart (Ps 24), we urgently call American youth, and especially those who profess Biblical faith, to pursue lives of sexual purity and to urgently pray for their generation and for our nation (1 Cor 6:18). We, the undersigned, call upon students, parents, Christian teachers and ministry leaders to embrace this call and to unite with us in prayer on the first Friday of every month: to pray and fast for our nation and for spiritual awakening among the youth of our nation (2 Chr 7:14).
            —Family Research Council, News Release: 8/3/07
                www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WM07H03

And indeed, this past Friday, August 3rd, Christian students throughout the country picked up that challenge to intercede on behalf of our nation and our youth, with a special emphasis on moral purity. Wouldn’t it be awesome if this movement picked up momentum and sparked a revival in our country, not only among the youth, but Christians of every age! We all need power to live against the grain, and to overcome temptation. And God has promised to give us the grace we need to meet every challenge and to overcome every obstacle along the way. All we need to do is ask Him.

For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds,
and to him who knocks it will be opened.  –Luke 11:10